Friday, April 08, 2016

In Robinson v. Children's Hospital Boston, (D MA, April 5, 2016), a Massachusetts federal district court dismissed a Title VII and state discrimination claim by a hospital emergency room worker who refused on religious grounds to be immunized for influenza. Plaintiff, who was apparently a follower of Nation of Islam, initially refused the vaccine because it contained pork products, but the hospital offered her a non-gelatin vaccine. She continued to refuse on religious grounds, was granted a temporary medical leave and was allowed to look for a non-patient area position in the hospital. When she was unable to find another position, she was terminated. The court held that the hospital had offered plaintiff reasonable accommodation and that allowing her to remain in the patient area unvaccinated would have posed an undue hardship. Boston Herald reports on the decision.